For most purposes, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 6 is as old as an antique sword which has lost more than just its sharp edge but simply refuses to die out for various reasons. However, Facebook has plans to drive its own nail in IE6’s coffin, and it will do so by killing support for its Chat feature on the ancient browser.

Read on for more information.

It is probably a given that most web developers will only be too glad to ditch support for the antiquated Internet Explorer 6 browser at the drop of a hat. Unfortunately for them, the fact that it remains as one of the most widely used browsers means that developers have no choice but to continue supporting the legacy browser, along with its various quirks such as non-standard rendering and security holes.

However, Facebook has just given users a good reason to ditch their XP-era web browser in favor for something considerably more modern. According to a blog post made by Facebook software engineer Rodrigo Schmidt, the popular social networking site is set to drop its Chat support for Internet Explorer 6, citing technological issues as the main reason.

Schimidt explains that the decision to cut IE6 support from Chat was due to various users complaining about the instability of the service, with their chat sessions either suddenly dropping the connection or just seizing up completely. And in order to bring the service up to par with the users’ expectations, it had to implement various improvements which are not supported on such legacy browsers.

“We know you want Chat to be hassle-free and uninterrupted…The biggest improvements come from changes that aren’t supported on older web browsers. After evaluating the alternatives, we’ve decided to make rapid improvements and provide the best Chat experience possible, which means we will no longer support Internet Explorer 6 browsers.,” he wrote.

Still, it does not change the fact that Facebook had seemingly chosen a very unique time to roll out its improved Chat feature for consumers: according to the Facebook blog, the changes made to Chat will take effect on September 15.

Which also happens to be the very same day Microsoft is supposed to launch the beta version of its highly-anticipated Internet Explorer 9 web browser. What a charming coincidence, no?